STRESSED? SLEEPLESS NIGHTS MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH

New Orleans, LA (June 20, 1998) -Stress-related sleep disruptions may weaken the immune systems of elderly widows and widowers, according to a paper that will be presented at the 12th Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Researchers at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh studied 29 patients who were suffering from depression following the loss of a loved one. Each patient, whose average age was 67, spent three nights in a sleep lab as part of a study of the treatment of bereavement-related depression.

The study's primary author, Martica Hall, PhD, noted that levels of stress in these patients were very high - similar to stress levels seen in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder. Dr. Hall measured stress by asking patients how frequently they experienced two kinds of-symptoms, intrusive thoughts and avoidance behaviors. -Intrusive thoughts are characterized as unwanted thoughts, images or feelings about the loss, and avoidance behaviors are attempts to avoid thinking about the loss.

Study results showed that higher levels of stress were associated with greater difficulties in falling asleep. When the researchers analyzed the patients' blood samples, they found that patients who had a harder time falling asleep had decreased levels of natural killer cells (NKCs), which take their name from the way they defend the body against infection and disease. Dr. Hall explained, "A decreased NKC count indicates a weakened immune system and a body more vulnerable to illness. Overall, our study results showed that, in elderly men and women with bereavement-related depression, stress affected the NKC count by causing difficulties in falling asleep." This is the first laboratory study to show that poor sleep is an important link between stressful life events, such as bereavement, and the immune system. Study results were the same for men and women and were not affected by the age of the patients.

This study demonstrates that disturbed sleep after a stressful life event can make the body more vulnerable to illness. According to Dr. Hall, maintaining good sleep is important for maintaining health. Although patients in this study were elderly widows and widowers, study results are likely to apply to younger age groups and other kinds of stressful events as well. Stress has been associated with poor sleep across the lifespan, and poor sleep has been linked to a weakened immune system in younger adults.

"These study findings also show the importance of developing treatments that reduce stress-related sleep disruptions. Doctors may be able to reduce susceptibility to stress-related illnesses in their patients by identifying and adequately treating disturbed sleep," said Dr. Hall.

Importantly, by linking intrusive thoughts and avoidance behaviors to sleep and lower NKC numbers, this study suggests a possible target for intervention. Treatments that reduce stress-related symptoms of intrusion and avoidance should improve patients' sleep, thereby reducing illness susceptibility via the immune system. Dr. Hall and her colleagues have plans to study the potential health benefits of treating stress-related sleep disruptions in a variety of patient populations across the life-span and in response to different types of stressful life events.

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